jrhamilt's picture

Training Badge
Submitted by jrhamilt on
in

Forums

Career Management

Hello all!

First, thank you Mike and Mark for your brilliant  podcasts.  I am shocked by all of the "average manager" things that I do that really stink, and look forward to becoming a better manager.

I just listened to the Resume Podcast, and although I thought I had a decent resume, I found myself blushing at times for the silly things that I have in there.  However, in trying to match your format, I encountered a problem...

PROBLEM

I work for a defense contractor and I must have somewhere on my resume a list of my current active clearances.  If I apply for a job that requires a Secret clearance, and it's not on my Resume, I'll be circularly filed quite quickly.

Of particular concern, I currently hold a higher clearance than my current job requires, so placing my clearance information in the admin / responsibilities / achievements section doesn't quite work.

SOLUTIONS

I imagine I could put it at the top of the resume as part of my "contact information".  I could also put a line at the bottom under education.  What are your thoughts?

mdave's picture
Submitted by mdave on Sunday July 24th, 2011 10:02 am

I can't speak to the M-T ideal.... however, my suggestion to people if they have unique and specialized certifications or liscences (the kind that are profession specific or apply across their resume and not to just one job or accomplishment) is that they include a heading for it (usually underneath education) and briefly list it and, if applicable, the certifying body -- e.g. CDL, state geologist or PE liscence, public pesticide application liscence, etc.). Seems to work OK

stephenbooth_uk's picture
Submitted by stephenbooth_uk on Monday July 25th, 2011 5:41 am

 I think at the top directly under your contact details for jobs where it is required (or on-spec applications).  My reasoning for this is that it's likely to be a 'Drop Dead' requirement (not having it rules you out) and on the first cut recruiters are looking to exclude candidates as quickly as possible.    If it's at the bottom or buried in details of a job then it might not be spotted.  At the top it will be spotted straight away in the first cut.

It's entirely possible that the recruiting manager might get HR to pre-exclude any applicants who don't have security clearance or other 'Drop Dead' requirments.

Stephen

--

Skype: stephenbooth_uk  | DiSC: 6137

"Start with the customer and work backwards, not with the tools and work forwards" - James Womack